Village Five had developed to such an extent that calling it a village was honestly pushing it. No matter how anyone looked at it, it was a city. However, it was a village! If we said it was a village, then it was a village! There was no room for doubt on that front.
To be fair, there were people who used to call it City Five in the past, but those numbers gradually dwindled. People eventually decided that Village Five was fine as it was. They had taken pride in the fact that it was a village. Conversely, they felt that calling it City Five was almost embarrassing.
...That was a lie. In truth, they simply stopped caring about the name. The people who had originally insisted on calling it City Five did so because the word "City" was more convenient when they contacted their relatives. Telling someone you had moved to a city sounded much more reassuring than saying you had moved to a village. However, Village Five became so famous that there was no longer any need to use the word "City" to impress anyone. Therefore, Village Five remained a village.
The one making this claim was a man of the Demon Race. My name... well, it wasn't anything important. You could have just called me the Guide. I worked at the Village Five Job Placement Office. And before anyone asked, no, this wasn't some unlicensed, fly-by-night operation. It was a legitimate office properly authorized by the village government. My job was to introduce employment opportunities to those who had immigrated to Village Five.
Village Five was flourishing before our very eyes. One could have said it was still in the middle of a growth spurt. Because of that, there were plenty of job openings.
A perennial favorite was carpentry. Carpenters were constantly in short supply. If someone possessed the skills to work as a builder, they absolutely should have pursued it. They could have set up their own personal workshop or joined one of the established groups already active in the village. I could have provided proper introductions for either path. Even without specific carpentry skills, a person could have earned a decent wage just by being able to haul heavy materials. For the larger-bodied races, this was especially true. Having a massive frame was incredibly useful when raising a house. If anyone was interested, they only had to say the word.
The next most popular roles were waitresses and waiters. These were jobs where a person acted as a mediator between the customers and the establishment while collecting tips. Depending on one's talent, the earning potential was limitless. However, the popular shops wouldn't hire just anyone; a candidate needed a certain level of credibility. By credibility, I meant a reputation for working diligently and not causing trouble. Some places wouldn't even consider an applicant unless they had someone to act as a guarantor for their identity. That was only natural. Additionally, some shops prohibited the acceptance of tips and instead paid a high fixed wage. The ramen shops were a prime example—specifically, the shops on Ramen Street. They were delicious, weren't they? While ramen shops were generally easy to get a foot in the door with, they were strict. Since they were paying a proper wage, those who did sloppy work were dismissed immediately.
As for Kuro to Yuki, I could have provided an introduction there as well, but there was an exam. It was a famous shop that many people dreamed of working at. Consequently, they held entrance exams only once or twice a year. If anyone wished to apply, I could have notified them when the next session was scheduled. On the other hand, Cafe Blue didn't require an exam; they only did an interview with the Acting Shop Manager. However, that place was a bit unique, and those who didn't mesh with the atmosphere never lasted long.
Another popular category was transport-related work—carrying luggage and freight. Though Village Five was small in footprint, it was built on a mountain. There were slopes everywhere, and moving goods was always a challenge. This job involved assisting with that burden. All a person had to do was carry things, so it was easy to see why it was popular. Furthermore, those who were fast on their feet or could handle immense loads were highly valued by the major Companies. It was even possible to secure a permanent position at a Company. It was a job with real prospects.
However, there was no such thing as an easy path. To a certain extent, a person couldn't do transport work unless they were intimately familiar with Village Five. If you were told to deliver something to a specific location but didn't know where that was, you were useless. While a person could manage when working in a team, they were a liability if they couldn't operate solo. That was why, despite its popularity, it was a difficult job to recommend to those who had just arrived in the village.
If someone wanted to earn steady money, I might have suggested garbage collection and disposal. Few people actively sought out the work, but because it was a vital necessity, the wages were excellent. Since it was managed directly by Village Five, the payments were always on time. For those with smaller statures, there was also Sewage Tunnel Cleaning. This involved diving into the tunnels to perform maintenance. The pay for that was surprisingly high. Usually, the Slimes handled the bulk of it, and they worked hard. However, the Acting Village Head had worried about what might happen if the Slimes ever stopped working. She was attempting to build a backup cleaning system that didn't rely on them. Volunteers were scarce, but I'll say it again: the wages were fantastic.
I could have also introduced a few unusual jobs, like modeling. Did people know that the Underground Shopping Street in Village Five was often called Fashion Street? New clothing designs were constantly being produced there, and the job involved wearing those clothes and simply wandering around the village. You just had to live your normal life while wearing the garments. Staying shut up at home was prohibited, of course. Since the goal was to showcase the designs, models had to remain conscious of the fact that they were being watched. Rude behavior was strictly forbidden. The earnings weren't great, but it was an easy gig. Some people even accepted the new clothes themselves as their primary reward.
Then there was the role of a Swan Trainer. Everyone knew about the White Swan Races. This job involved training the birds that competed in those events. It wasn't something a person could do haphazardly; one had to gauge each White Swan's aptitude and provide tailored training. This required a lot of experience, so it wasn't a job where someone could earn big money right away. Furthermore, because the races involved gambling, absolute integrity was required. If someone didn't genuinely love the birds, they weren't suited for it. Surprisingly, many people applied with total confidence, claiming they could do it. I turned them down, of course. Since the village government and the local Shrine were involved in the races, I would have been the one in trouble if I introduced a shady character.
Other peculiar openings included being an Extra or a Backup Dancer. Extras were for the movies. Yes, a person could have actually appeared in a film. It was incredible, really. They weren't lead roles, obviously—those were chosen through grueling practice and exams. Extras were just the crowd, the mobs used to make the leads look better. There were almost no lines, and acting ability wasn't really required. As long as a person didn't stand there like a statue or overact, they were fine. The reward was small, but it served as a wonderful memory. In fact, some people even offered to pay just to be in the shot, which kept the wages low.
As for the Backup Dancers, that was the job of dancing behind Five-kun. The practice and exams for that were as rigorous as those for a movie's lead actor. However, it was very lucrative. If a dancer became popular, they could have eventually gone independent and made a career of it.
Finally, speaking of strange jobs, there was the Large-portion Ramen License Certifier. In certain ramen shops, ordering a large portion was restricted to those with a license. This job involved issuing the certifications needed to grant those licenses. Previously, each shop handled it themselves, but it became too much of a burden, so they began outsourcing. It was a simple task: you just had to confirm that a challenger finished the designated large-portion ramen and then hand over the certificate. It was a great way to make friends with the shop owners and potentially get a first taste of new menu items. The pay was a pittance, but there were surprisingly many people who wanted the job.
If anyone had asked me what the absolute best job was, it would have been a tough call. Personally, I enjoyed this job placement work quite a bit. However, if I were going to recommend a path to my own family, it would have been agriculture.
Yes, agriculture—field work. The labor was intensive, but it was stable, you could settle down and get married, and your future was secure. No, I wasn't lying. I knew what people thought: they assumed that no matter how hard they worked, some noble would just seize everything as tax. But here, it was different. Almost all the fields surrounding Village Five were the personal property of the Village Head. Workers were essentially entrusted with the Village Head’s fields on a contract basis. Because of that, there was no need to worry about taxes. Even in the event of a poor harvest, the workers were looked after because their basic wage was fixed. They were paid a guaranteed base salary, with bonuses added on top depending on the actual harvest yield. It was incredibly reassuring. Furthermore, since it was work performed for the Village Head, there was a strong sense of contributing directly to the growth of Village Five.
It was a popular choice for those who had been farmers before moving here. However, the younger generation usually hesitated. Village Five offered too many other temptations. I sometimes worried whether there would be a shortage of successors in the decades to come. That was exactly why, if I were giving advice to my own kin, I would have pointed them toward the fields.